Leeds United: Massimo Cellino signing with one appearance was another laughable flop - View | OneFootball

Massimo Cellino spent three years as the owner of Leeds United, and signed a number of flops during this time. However, very few were as laughably disappointing as the loan deal for Zan Benedicic.

Leeds went through six managers in three years with Cellino at the helm, and the club brought in 26 different players on permanent deals in order to cement their return to the Premier League after a decade away.

This also included a hefty number of loan deals from different clubs all over Europe. This included one move in 2014 from Serie A, a league which Cellino knew very well from his time as the owner of Cagliari in Italy.

Benedicic joined Leeds on loan from AC Milan

In the summer of 2014, Leeds signed one of the most impressive young players at Italian giants AC Milan. Young midfielder Benedicic had impressed for the Milan youth teams leading up to the season, and even earned himself a spot on the club's pre-season tour.

Then only 18 years old, he had a bright future at the club. He was already capped by the Slovenia under-21 side at the time, with a single goal to his name in 2013 against Bulgaria. If he impressed in the first team somewhere, then there was a good chance the midfielder would eventually find himself called up to the senior squad.

Benedicic joined Leeds in August 2014, before he made his debut for AC Milan. He was one of 19 different signings to join the club that season, which included EFL legends like Billy Sharp, Sol Bamba and Liam Cooper. However, the Milan midfielder came in with high hopes, as then manager David Hockiday described him as having huge "potential".

“Zan is a versatile, strong and technical midfield player. He has massive potential and comes highly recommended by AC Milan,” he told Leeds' website after signing the youngster.

Despite signing on a season-long loan, the Slovenian's career at Leeds ended much, much sooner than he ever would have imagined.

One Championship outing for Benedicic

Despite showing good promise before signing for Leeds, Benedicic's spell at the club went wrong almost immediately. The midfielder managed a single league appearance at Elland Road, as he failed to gain first-team experience on loan in England that season.The Slovenian's debut for Leeds came in the League Cup,where he came on for 24 minutes against Accrington Stanley . He failed to impact the game at all.His sole league match for Leeds came two weeks later. Benedicic's league debut came in a home match against Bolton Wanderers on August 30th, 2014 under Neil Redfearn. He was an unused sub for the club's Championship opener against Millwall under Hockaday, but was actually given time on the pitch at Elland Road against The Trotters.The Slovenian came off the bench in the 78th minute, replacing Casper Sloth in the centre of midfield. He managed to help the Yorkshire side hold onto their lead, and take home all three points on his first Championship appearance. But, it was also his last. Shortly after the match, a miniscus injury would put Benedicic on the injury table. He had surgery on the injured knee in November , which ruled him out for the season after just one league showing for the Whites.Leeds decided not to bring him back to the club after his injury, and the Slovenian bounced around various clubs throughout his career.He never ended up making his debut for AC Milan, and his loan move to Elland Road proved to be a disaster for everybody involved.Ultimately, Benedicic proved to not quite be the master-stroke Cellino planned him to be in Leeds' quest for success in the mid-2010s.